My Summer Vacation: Part 1

So, welcome back. I know - I've been MIA. But I have a good explanation for it: I went on Summer Vacation. That's right - summer is in full swing, school is out, so I packed my bags and headed for the West coast....to visit the family AND catch up with a pleothora of friends, both old and young, along the way! My travels consisted of time in Idaho, Utah and California. The time out West included, but was not limited to: sleep, food, street roller hockey, fireworks, face lickings, white South Africans, movies, roller coasters, Catapults, Old Chicago, haircuts, food, rare works of art, Jewish Sabbath, mass chicken de-boning, Jewish Rock Bands, Mormon Cover Rock Bands, In-n-Out Burger, laughter, range fires, and a whole lot of memories. Aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww shucks, right?

So welcome to PART 1 of my photo-journal of my Summer Vacation. Part 1 will delight you with the Idaho/Utah portion of the trip. Sit back. Relax. And prepare to.....um....possibly get bored. Or be entertained. I won't make any promises either way.

PART 1: The Anderson's in Idaho and Utah

So first off, you have to know that NO TRIP to Boise is complete, in the Anderson Playbook, without a trip to CHUCK-O-RAMA. Think HUGE BUFFET (ala Golden Corral and the likes). The Middle-Level Anderson (me and my siblings) hate it - but those levels below (the kids) and above (the parents) us LOVE IT. As one of my nephews put it, "I love it! All the JELLO you want? It's so cool!"

This trip, it was a scaled down group - due to everyone's busy summer schedules. Me, my parents and then my oldest brother, Scott's family - minus Scott. Here, his 3 kids (L-R: Samantha, Branden and Austin) celebrate Chuck-O-Rama - and then add their mom, Jackie, for the 2nd shot.

Top: Me and the Old Man, Grandpa Anderson, kick it at Chuck-O-Rama. He loves the Senior Citizen discount. Bottom: Grandma Anderson and Scott's kids POST restaurant.

This trip to C-O-R brought the realization that I have the smallest mouth in the family, while Branden might possibly have the LARGEST mouth. Unproven - but a safe bet.

One of the great parts of my trip was catching up with old friends! I got to go out to Nampa, Idaho (because who doesn't want to go out to Nampa?) to visit with my friends from college, Clint and Kim Baker! AND to wrestle with their 4 children and get them all riled up - and then leave and let Kim and Clint calm them down. I rule.

The wrestling begins.

Meet Natalie. A dear friend of mine. Who i shall now call Tricky Hair Cutting Lady from here on out.

Here are myself and Tricky Hair Cutting Lady. I am showing her my long, curly locks - THAT I AM GROWING OUT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE HAIR GROWS ALL SUMMER - and she is agreeing to help me 'clean them up' - and maybe even help me straighten the curls. Nice right?

wrong. LOOK at that evil little smirk on Tricky Hair Cutting Lady. She fooled me into getting in the chair - and then proceeded to cut a lot of my hair off. How much?

yeah. that much.

so this is the immediate POST-cut reaction. I am shocked, really....pure and utter shock.

But I got over it. EVEN though i'm PRETTY sure the whole shearing was pre-meditated. Which, in the end, is why I am calling her Tricky Hair Cutting Lady. She's tricky.

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So...a few days after I got to Idaho, the family packed up and headed down to Layton, Utah - for the yearly trip to LAGOON. Lagoon, for those of you not versed in Utah-Idaho words, is a crazy little amusement park that most all of us grew up going to. It was a 36-hour whirlwind trip!

Upon arrival in Utah, the night before the LAGOON excursion, I headed into SLC to see some friends. Remember Nate, who came to visit in Boca? Well, I headed to Nate's house - with full warning that he and 2 of his friends were in the middle of a chicken-activity!

This is what I saw when I walked in. This was a major chicken-meat-shredding-operation. Evidently, they strip the meat off of the bone of chickens and sell it in bags on the streets during the week for their income. Very lucrative in SLC these days. Who knew. This was the end of the 72 chickens they were stripping that night. EVERY Sunday night.

Here, Nate, Lou and Tamara smile after a hard night of chicken-meat-work.

Their spirit and enthusiasm was so contagious, I even joined in! GOOD TIMES!

* * *

And then it was time for LAGOON!

And everyone was EXCITED and ready to go!

The day consisted of ride....after ride....after ride....

but the COLLASUS was a hit with everyone of all ages.

Art shots of the roller coaster fun!

Although these 2 appear to have hidden their excitement, Tanner and Branden were up LATE the night before, excitedly talking about the big roller coaster...and promising each other to ride all the rides together all day AND to scream the loudest at the top of their lungs. Cousins RULE!

Top: Kayla flashes her pearly whites as we ride the ski-lift across the park. Bottom: Tanner and Branden follow us across.

Brother Scott and I paid the extra $20 for the 'grown up ride' called THE CATAPULT. They strap you into this red-ball-contraption, tilt you back, and then LAUNCH you 250 feet in the air. Right. 250 FEET IN THE AIR! Un-believable.

And there we are....up there. It was so much fun, I couldn't stop laughing the whole entire time. Surprising, right?

Kayla, Tanner and Branden were ride-riding MONSTERS!

Not letting Scott and Matt get all the Thrill-Ride-Glory, Cousins Sam and Tyler decide to Catapult, as well.

There they are.

Samantha brought her friend, Lauren, to Lagoon. Look how much fun they were having....

Grandpa Anderson folds his hat on another successful family trip to Lagoon.

And RIGHT before we slid out of town, I had the chance to catch up with good friend, SHANNON WEST - Hairdresser to the Stars. And queen of Stamp It Up! No one REALLY appreciates a good Diet Coke like Miss Shannon.

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Coming SOON!!!

My Summer Vacation: Part 2 The Anderson Family 4th of July Spectacular

...check back soon...